Post by telegonus on Mar 5, 2017 8:30:50 GMT
They were actually quite different shows. Alike on the surface, both shows being products of the Hitchcock production company (Shamley), both hosted by Hitchcock, and both even featured adaptations of works of the same writers, yet they were different in emphasis, which far more room for characterization and changes in the storylines in the hour series.
The hour show evolved from the half-hour (IMO). That it was an anthology gave it more flexibility. There were many TV shows that expanded from a half-hour to an hour during the same period, with one of the most successful being Gunsmoke, which became an hour long version of what had been a half-hour, and while there were some changes during the transition it was essentially the same series, only with longer stories.
The hour show evolved from the half-hour (IMO). That it was an anthology gave it more flexibility. There were many TV shows that expanded from a half-hour to an hour during the same period, with one of the most successful being Gunsmoke, which became an hour long version of what had been a half-hour, and while there were some changes during the transition it was essentially the same series, only with longer stories.